Tennis Canada launches new junior national qualifying tournaments

Tennis Canada has announced the formation of the Rogers Junior National Qualifying Series, which is a series of five 4-star tournaments per age division taking place this summer. These events will provide junior players with meaningful competitions and an additional opportunity to qualify for the Under 12, Under 14, Under 16 and Under 18 Rogers Junior National Championships. 

The tournaments will be held in the Western Canada Region (Edmonton & Vancouver), and the Central Canada Region (Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa) as follows:

• July 6-13: U18 ITF & U16 Alberta Open: Saville Sports Centre, Edmonton, AB
• July 8-12: U12 & U14 Alberta Open: Garneau Tennis Club, Edmonton, AB
• July 13-20: U18 ITF & U12/U14/U16 Stanley Park Open: Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC
• July 18-22: U18 GTA Hard Court Open: U of T Scarborough College, Scarborough, ON
• July 20-24: U16 GTA Hard Court Open: U of T Scarborough College, Scarborough, ON
• July 25-30: U16/U18 Quebec Open: Carrefour Multisports, Laval, QC
• July 31-August 5: U12/U14/U16/U18 Roman Cup/Ontario Open: Rideau Tennis Club, Ottawa, ON
• August 9-13: U12 GTA Clay Court Open, Richmond Hill Country Club, Richmond Hill, ON
• August 7-11: U14 GTA Clay Court Open, Richmond Hill Country Club, Richmond Hill, ON

For details on player eligibility, registration process, match format, acceptance into tournaments, click here.

See also Tennis Manitoba Junior Tour

Wheelchair tennis tournament first of its kind in Manitoba

Lee Carter at the 2007 Birmingham National Wheelchair Tennis
Championships, on route to his first national championship.
 (Source: Tennis Canada)

This summer wheelchair tennis players from across Western Canada and beyond are expected to travel to Winnipeg to participate in the inaugural Prairie Cup Wheelchair Tennis Championships. The event is the first of its kind in Manitoba, and will be hosted August 9th - 11th at the Kildonan Tennis Club during the 2013 Manitoba Open Tennis Championships.

The Prairie Cup is a Tennis Manitoba initiative to help grow wheelchair tennis participation in the province. Over the winter, Tennis Manitoba partnered with the Manitoba Wheelchair Sports Association to host a drop-in wheelchair tennis program at Taylor Tennis in Winnipeg. A similar program takes place during the outdoor season at the Norwood Community Centre.

There are plans to incorporate wheelchair tennis events during some of the 2013 Tennis Manitoba Open Tour tournaments, with the first wheelchair categories being offered at tournaments to be held at the Winnipeg Lawn Tennis Club and Deer Lodge Tennis Club.

Manitoba has a strong history of wheelchair tennis, which has produced players and coaches who have participated at international events. Most notable of late is Winnipeg's Lee Carter, who is just the third Canadian male to win at least four consecutive national titles (singles and doubles, 2007 - 2010). Carter has also participated in World Team Cup competition, as well as the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.

> Additional wheelchair tennis news

Tennis Manitoba offers instructor course

Tennis Manitoba will be offering an introductory level instructor course on June 20th to 23rd, for those that wish to be involved teaching tennis in parks and recreation programs, or seasonal clubs. The course is part of a national coaching certification program offered by Tennis Canada. Certified instructors are able to teach tennis anywhere in Canada, and are eligible to participate in advanced certification courses.

Upon completion of the course, instructors will be able to:

• teach pre-planned content to beginners (1.0 - 2.5 level player), and 
• run cooperative drills on 1-3 courts.

The course will be taught by a course facilitator from Tennis Canada. Upon successful completion of this course, attendees will be provided a membership to the Tennis Professionals Association.

Dates: June 20 - 23, 2013
Times: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Place: Winnipeg location, TBA
Fee: $350 *

Course registration is available online at tc.tournamentsoftware.com. Please contact Tennis Manitoba should you require additional information.

      

* Includes a one year membership to Tennis Professionals Association

See also...
> Tennis Canada's Coaching Certification Program
> Tennis Professionals Association
> Tennis skills self-rating guide

Manitobans head to NCAA conference championships

Clarissa Chen, Robert Morris University

Good luck to Manitobans playing in NCAA conference championships this weekend!

> Clarissa Chen, Robert Morris University
> Sean Bailey, Austin Peay State University
> Alan Gardiner, Bellarmine University
> Alex Lesiuk, Colorado State University-Pueblo
> Igal Mostkov, Bellarmine University
> Shane Nicholls, Colorado State University-Pueblo
> Aleksandra Ochrymowicz, College of St. Scholastica
> Saul Shrom, Colorado State University-Pueblo
> Evann Waschuk, Bellarmine University

For an additional listing of Tennis Manitoba college updates, visit facebook.com\tennismanitoba

Game, set, match in the desert

Winnipeg student athletes anchor ThunderWolves tennis team.

(Winnipeg: Submitted article) It’s not unusual to hear of Canadian students attending colleges and universities in the US. But three young men from Winnipeg at the same school is rare. And those three making up half of the school’s men’s tennis team? What are the odds?

Senior Alex Lesiuk (Vincent Massey High School), junior Saul Shrom (Gray Academy) and freshman Shane Nicholls (Westwood Collegiate) have taken their skills learned on Winnipeg courts and are making an impact at Colorado State University in Pueblo, Colorado. Alex and Saul are Number 1 and 2 players, respectively, on Head Coach Mark Schlief’s team, while Shane, who joined them in January, plays as number 6.

These highly motivated young men have formed a tight bond with their teammates from Colorado, Oregon and Veracruz, Mexico. By all accounts they’re loving life in the Colorado Desert. The team has struggled this year playing in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference against powerhouses like Western New Mexico, Colorado Mesa and Metro State. Although incurring more losses than wins, throughout their season the team has had some close results and has shown gritty play and great team sportsmanship.

They enter the conference championship this weekend as the #5 seed and are hoping to knock off one of the favourites. Should they record the results they’re hoping for, there is no doubt the three lads from Winnipeg will be at least 50% responsible for the team’s success.

See also: Pack hoping to ride Winnipeg connection to RMAC Championship this weekend

Winnipeggers selected to all conference teams

Sean Bailey (top left), Alex Lesiuk, Igal
Mostkov and Saul Shrom were named to
their conference all star teams.

(Winnipeg: Various sources) This past week four Winnipeg student athletes were named to their respective NCAA conference all star teams.

Senior Sean Bailey of the Austin Peay State University men’s tennis team earned All-Ohio Valley Conference first-team honors.

Bailey, last season’s OVC Men’s Player of the Year, has enjoyed another sterling season in 2013. The Canadian went 19-4 overall, including a 13-3 dual record and an 8-1 mark in OVC play. He and Ademovic formed a formidable duo at No. 1 doubles, going 12-3 overall.

With this season’s honor, Bailey becomes Austin Peay’s first four-time all-conference honoree in men’s tennis. He’s the first OVC player to earn all-conference accolades during each year of his career since Eastern Kentucky’s Alex Das (2008-11).

“It’s a very nice for Sean,” said head coach Ross Brown. “It’s great the coaches have that much respect for him. Hopefully we can cap his career with a win this weekend.”

The Colorado State University-Pueblo men's tennis squad had two of its players named to the All-RMAC team, both from Winnipeg. Senior Alex Lesiuk was rewarded with a selection to the All-RMAC First Team and partnered with junior Saul Shrom for doubles play, the duo were selected for the All-RMAC Second Team.

Lesiuk posted a 6-13 record this spring going 2-2 in conference play this season.

Shrom, when partnered with Lesiuk in No. 1 doubles play posted a 6-11 record this spring for the Pack.

Sophomore Igal Mostkov, of the Bellarmine University Knights men's tennis team, was an All-Conference selection for the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

All four student athletes will be participating for their college squads in their respective conference championships taking place this weekend.

See also...
> Four Govs earn All-OVC honors
> Lesiuk earns double honors as All-RMAC selections were announced
> Mostkov, Rabinov named All-GLVC

Canada advances to Davis Cup semi-finals

Milos Raonic sends Canada to Davis Cup World Group semi-finals for the first time. Here is a collection of stories that highlight Canada's historic win over Italy.

Morden to resurface tennis courts

Tennis courts in Morden, Manitoba are
scheduled to be resurfaced.

The City of Morden, located in the Pembina Valley region of southern Manitoba, has announced that it will be resurfacing some of its public tennis courts. Tennis has been a recent focus in Morden. The community will be participating in Tennis Canada's Building Tennis Communities Initiative (BTC). Through the BTC program, grass-roots tennis will be promoted by a local Community Champion with equipment and funding from Tennis Canada.

Contact Tennis Manitoba for more information about tennis in Morden, or how your community can participate in the Tennis Canada BTC program.

See also The Winkler Modern Voice article 'Tennis courts to get a major makeover'.

Tennis Manitoba goes mobile

The new Tennis Canada Android app (shown here), makes
 it easy to stay up to date with tournaments in Canada.

Tennis tournaments in Manitoba, as well as across the country, have just become easier to find. With your iPhone or Android smartphone, you are now able to stay in touch with current events and search for ones close to you. The new Tennis Canada mobile apps provide instant access to players, draws and results.

    

You can also find tournament details on the web at tc.tournamentsoftware.com

Related news: Tennis Manitoba launches new tournament system